Antique Love
by wackystrings123
Summary: They were enemies as children then she moved away. Now she's back years later and they're both different; how will they turn out? TxG
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I never know what to say in these****. I plan on making this a pretty short story. I don't know how many chapters yet either. And yes I know it's cliché but like I said earlier, I love cliché stories. So enjoy!**

Summary: They were enemies as children then she moved away. Now she's back years later and they're both different; how will they turn out? TxG

Antique Love

by wackystrings123

Chapter 1

Troy Bolton's first impression of Gabriella Montez wasn't exactly pleasant.

The first time he had ever laid eyes on her was on his first day of kindergarten, and from then on he strongly despised her. The dispassion towards her began during the first week of August, after a pretty irksome morning for Troy. He had been shyly making his way to his table when she had stuck her leg out and made him trip, which of course led the entire class to erupt in harsh giggles. Troy's first reaction was to turn around and hit her, but he couldn't; he could faintly hear his mothers' words, "_never ever, under any circumstances, hit a girl"_. So he had no choice but to swallow his tears and walk the rest of the way to his seat.

And as if that had not been bad enough, during lunch, she had waltzed up to him, grabbed his chocolate milk and skipped away with it, giggling annoyingly. Again, Troy had had no choice but to keep his tears in and pretend as if she had not bothered him. But of course, his resolution towards the problem had not lasted long. The same afternoon, during nap time Gabriella had snatched his blanket away from him and he retaliated. With her holding one end of the navy blue blanket and him the other, they began a childish game of tug-of-war, both determined to _not _back down. This did not last long; eventually the teacher decided to intervene.

Things did not get any better after kindergarten, in fact, they only worsened. They had evolved from tripping and stealing from each other to hitting, throwing food and other objects at one another. None of the teachers as well as parents could understand why the two despised each other so much, but they all hoped that it would eventually come to an end. The "hate" intensified during their first few years of elementary school, resulting in shoving and extraordinarily creative, yet foul, names.

Then, towards the end of elementary school, Gabriella moved away. Upon hearing this, Troy had felt nothing but utter relief. He believed that with Gabriella gone, he would finally be able to be at peace, or so he thought. Not more than a week after she had left, Troy was completely clueless as to what to do with himself. He wasted four whole weeks of his summer vacation, moping about in his room, bored and in complete denial of missing Gabriella.

Eventually, about a year after she had left, Troy discovered girls and basketball.

He spent nearly every single hour in a day wrapped up in one of these, mainly basketball. And soon enough he had forgotten about Gabriella and moved on. He had realized that not all females were like her; in fact they were antithetical to her. They were gentle and knew exactly what to do to entertain and please him without him getting furious or feeling an irrepressible need to dunk ice cold milk over their heads.

His life had been pretty smooth after that. He went on to being the captain of his schools' varsity basketball team in his sophomore year—becoming the first sophomore in the school's history to hold such a title—he wooed ninety-nine percent of the schools', as well as many other schools, female population through his sophomore and junior years, never being with one for more than five months.

His longest lasting relationship was his first real one, which lasted a little over six months. Her name was Andrea Garza. He had met Andrea in his freshman year and was immediately enamored by her exotic features. He could barely even remember much about her, but could still recollect the basics, like how her dark caramel waves had always been held up in a ponytail, how her dark skin complexion shone in the light and how her hazel eyes would sparkle every time she spoke. He could remember how his friends and family had this odd belief that the only reason he liked Andrea was because she was an exact replica of Gabriella. He refused to believe this, but after a short period of time he started seeing the resemblances; they looked the same, they liked similar things, they behaved the same. The only difference between Andrea and Gabriella was the feistiness that the latter possessed. Whilst Gabriella would do absolutely anything to make Troy suffer, Andrea on the contrary would do a lot of things to make him smile, and maybe that, he wondered, was why he broke up with her in the first place.

His second girlfriend, after Andrea—he could not remember her name—was a redhead who annoyed Troy to madness when she constantly spoke about herself and "life back on the farm". They did not last long at all.

Then his second longest relationship after Andrea was an exchange student from Malawi. She unlike the nameless redhead and Andrea had captivated his attention not by her chocolate-y skin complexion, her large onyx orbs or her ebony afro, that would have given his best friends' own a run for its money, but her feistiness and determination to try new things. He found himself falling in love with her adventurous side and stories about what it was like back in her home country. Though he had difficulty remembering her last name, he could still remember her first…Shafia. He found himself uttering her name more than necessary, infatuated by its exoticness.

After his relationship with Shafia ended when she left for Malawi, the rest of his relationships had been a blur.

They simmered down to casual-no-strings-attached hookups, with girls he never bothered to know their names. He had planned to live the rest of his life this way; a bachelor.

Then _she _came along and ruined his plan.

* * *

><p>One of the things Troy Bolton despised doing most on a Saturday was working at his mothers' antique store.<p>

He was seventeen, for gods' sake, most teenagers his age were hanging out or partying, whilst he was stuck in a room that smelled like his Grandmas house, all day, with nothing but his mobile phone to entertain him.

On this particular Saturday he had more than a small hand-held device to keep him company; he had a tall model worthy blonde wrapped up in his arms. The said blonde had entered the store with her mother and whilst the older woman was looking around, Troy pounced and within seconds had led the blonde to the very back of the store where they proceeded to entertain one another in ways that would have given Troy's mother a heart attack.

"Gabby?"

No response.

"I know that you're mad at me for making you leave your friends behind…and Ethan, but I promise you that you _will _love it here."

Again, nothing…

"I sorry sweetie, but this is home." The finality in the older woman's tone was heavy and desperate.

"No," a small voice croaked, "no…this isn't home."

"This is where you grew up, baby."

"But I was happier in New York than here."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just do."

This was not Gabriella Montez, far from it. But she believed that she had every right to behave this way and even worse. Over the past three days, since their departure from New York, Gabriella had hardly spoken any words or shown any signs of communication to her mother let alone acknowledge her existence. She knew how much this was hurting the older woman but her desire to make her feel just how much pain she herself was feeling was greater than the undeniable guilt seeping through her bones. She knew this was beyond selfish but at that moment she could not care less what her mother thought; the only think that had been crossing her mind all week was _she deserves this she took me away from them_.

"This is as hard for me as it is for you." And with those stern yet emotional words, Maria Montez stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut with such force that the entire vehicle rocked.

Inside the car, Gabriella carefully pondered these words. As the full blow of her mother's words hit her she felt the stinging tears leak out of the corners of her eyes…had she gone too far?

* * *

><p>"Obviously I didn't."<p>

Gabriella found herself muttering this to herself as she walked down several stocked aisles, trying to rid herself of her boredom; no such luck.

After over a ten minutes, Gabriella was about ready to rip all her hair out and fall to her knew and beg her mom to take her back home, to New York. This place, this _city_ was just way too quiet for her! She could not understand what had happened to the constant blaring of sirens, the loud music coming from nearby bars, the loud honking of impatient drivers, the screams, the squeals, everything. Albuquerque was just too fucking quiet!

Then she heard it.

The distinctive sound of muffled moans. Someone was in trouble! Her eyes bulged as the thought crossed her mind. She contemplated running back to her mother and informing her of her suspicions or running forward to aid the injured person. She stood still for a while, staring at an old china teapot as she tried to arrange her thoughts in an organized manner. Then she heard it again, louder and more burdened but it sounded odd. Confused, she began walking forward closer to the sound. She peeked around the corner and backtracked at what she saw.

A couple, intertwined tightly together was huddled in a corner, oblivious to the world around them. Their lips fused tightly, clothes and hair ruffled and matted. As Gabriella peered closer, she noticed they were her age. The guy had his back to her and had caged a pretty tall blonde from what she could see against the wall, and currently had his hand buried under her skirt. Shocked by their actions, Gabriella took a reflexive step back and hit a shelf.

"Shit!" she swore as she noticed the sound had caused the couple to pause their actions. _Fuck!_

Frozen and unable to move, fearing that if she moved the glass object, trapped between her body and the wooden shelf, would topple to the ground. Before she knew it, two pairs of eyes were fixed harshly on her; one pair of light blue and the other a deep sea blue that sparked familiarity in her. As her embarrassed and apologetic eyes landed on the deep blue ones, she felt as if all the air had been knocked out of her lungs and she felt would have collapsed had it not been for her tight grasp of the shelf behind her. She knew those eyes, but where from?

"I am _so _sorry!" she said, blushing a deep red as she tried to place the priceless ornament back to it's rightful position without dropping anything else. As she looked back at the couple, ready to apologize again, she noticed the guy was smiling at her, finding her clumsiness and her embarrassment amusing. She marveled at the way his unkempt chestnut hair fell into his dazzling eyes and the way his thin lips curled up into a smile; he was hot. She summed up.

Whereas the boy seemed amused, the girl was not. Her light blue eyes had narrowed into deathly slits as she glared at the girl who had interrupted them.

"Again, I'm sorry…so I'll just be going." She muttered as she began taking rushed steps back unable to breathe until she was fully concealed from their view.

"Who the hell was that?" she heard the blonde girl ask.

"Does it matter?" the boy retorted.

"Gabby!" Gabriella let out a relieved sigh when she heard her mothers' voice, "I was just talking to Lucille about you and Troy when you were kids."

Lucille Bolton looked nothing like her age. Her dark brown locks had barely any grays in them; her slender face was nearly wrinkle free. Her slim and agile body resembled that of a young woman. The only feature that gave away her actual age were her light emerald eyes; the age and wisdom beneath them was intense. Gabriella wondered whether Lucille knew about the "things" people did in her store, though she highly doubted that she was aware.

"Oh my Gosh, Gabriella just look at you!" Lucille gushed pulling Gabriella into a tight hug, "you've grown so much! And you're so beautiful" Lucille pulled back but held Gabriella by the shoulders as she analyzed the newly developed woman before her. "Troy is going to be so surprised when he sees you." She continued excitedly, "he should be in the back I think."

Gabriella smiled then backtracked; Troy was here?

Saddled with boredom and curiosity, Gabriella once again found herself wandering through the numerous shelves of the large store. But not only that, she was curious, only she was mainly curious about Troy. She wanted to know what he was like now; whether he had changed from the annoying boy he had been when they were younger as well as how he looked now. Did he still have the large gap between his two front teeth? Lost deep in her thoughts, she failed to see the body in front of her until she collided into it. She stepped back at the force of the collision and immediately went to apologize.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked in embarrassment. The person turned and Gabriella felt her jaw drop and the intensifying heat smother her face. It was the boy from earlier! The one she had caught at the back with the blonde girl. He seemed to recognize her for he smirked down at her, his bright eyes crinkling at the sides.

"Wow," he said in amusement "we just keep bumping into each other. Must be fate."

Gabriella's blush deepened. He was making fun of her and actually enjoying it. But instead of feeling annoyed and irritated she felt like smiling. "I'm really sorry though."

"Nah it's cool. I shouldn't have been standing in the way."

Gabriella subconsciously tried to peer over his shoulder in search of the mystery blonde but found no one behind the boy's broad shoulders. For some reason she felt relieved and at the same time suspicious. Who was she? A girlfriend perhaps? Was she jealous? The boy, who seemed to have noticed her eyes searching wildly chuckled lightly and leaned forward, close enough for Gabriella to count every spot and blemish on his tanned face.

"I believe a pretty lady like yourself should have a name equally as pretty." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully and Gabriella felt an urge to slap him but all she did was blush even deeper. She bit her lower lip unable to decide whether or not to tell him her name.

"Troy!" both their heads shot up at Lucille's distant call. Gabriella felt her heart thud in her chest at the name. She turned around wildly towards the sound of the voice, hoping to catch a glimpse of Troy. In front of her the boy sighed in aggravation and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Coming mom!" he yelled.

_"Mom?" _she whispered in confusion as she tried to put the pieces together. Realization dawned on her. Troy was standing right in front of her and was _flirting_ with her, Gabriella Montez. Did he know who she was? She looked up at Troy with wide eyes waiting for a spark of recognition to cross his eyes but he only winked and bought his lips to her ear.

"I'll catch you later." He whispered making sure his lips brushed her earlobe, sending sharp currents pulsing through her small body and increasing her heart rate, before pulling away, winking once one and then disappearing behind the shelves.

Troy was hot, openly _flirted _with _her,_ called her pretty and worst of all she was a _teensy _bit attracted to him.

_Oh crap._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please express your thoughts, views and feelings about this story in a review ****J****.**


	2. Chapter 2

Antique Love

By wacystrings123

Chapter 2

Gabriella Montez _hated_ Troy Bolton ever since the first time she had ever laid eyes on him. There was nothing about him that was "hate-able" in fact he was one of the nicest and shyest guys in her kindergarten class; so what was there to hate?

She didn't know.

For some reason she felt that tripping him on their first day of school when the teacher wasn't looking was the right thing to do. She had never believed in "cooties" but there was something about Troy that made her feel disgust whenever he was near. Her mom thought it was a phase which would pass quickly. Only it didn't it went on all through to elementary school where her hate only intensified and they had graduated from tripping and pouring food on each other to throwing insults and other objects. Their parents were regulars at the principal's office, sometimes visiting up to three times in a week and rapidly formed a close bond and that did not help Troy and Gabriella's predicament at all since their parents were constantly at the others house, dragging along their unwilling children.

Then Maria got a job in New York and her, Gabriella and her father packed up and left. Gabriella could still remember being furious at her mother for weeks, ignoring her as best as she could and isolating herself and moping. She convinced herself and her mother that it wasn't because she missed Troy but all of her friends. Then when she started school that all changed. She had gone back to being her bubbly and outgoing self making numerous friends, even guys which of course did not go too well with her father.

Mr. Montez wasn't exactly the perfect father but he wasn't all too bad either. He was rarely ever home. Gabriella could go for a whole week without once seeing her father and she hated him but Maria loved him more than anything and wasn't ready to let him go even during their many arguments. Then one day, just a few days after her sixteenth birthday, she came home to from a trip to the mall with her friends, to find her mother sobbing her heart out in the kitchen. It had taken a while before Maria had stopped crying and was able to explain to her only child that her father had left them, abandoned them for his twenty-something year old secretary. Somehow Gabriella had not felt any kind of pain upon hearing this; somehow she had known this would happen, sooner or later and it finally did. All she had felt at that moment was raw and pure hatred towards the man she called "dad" for leaving her mother like this.

No sooner had this event happened that Maria decided that it was time to go home; back to Albuquerque.

…

She had managed to not come face to face with Troy after their little encounter at Lucille's antique shop, even when her mother had called. Eventually Troy had to leave and Gabriella could finally come out of her hiding spot to face her mother. She had sweetly lied that she had been busy admiring the ornaments in the back and had not heard her mother's calls. Both women seemed to believe that. So after leaving Lucille's shop, Maria finally decided that it was time to finally see their new home. This was a little odd to Gabriella. Most normal people would first go to their new houses, relax a little before going exploring but with her mother it was the exact opposite.

So now she was stuck helping her mom haul their belongings out of the car or at least she was trying to sneak out of it. She had snuck into her new "home" unseen when her mother had been too busy screaming at the movers to be gentle with the boxes.

The house was fairly modest with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a large kitchen, a porch, a living room, dining room and a huge backyard. It was extremely different from their apartment back in New York but she had a feeling she would be able to cope. Hitching her backpack further up her slim shoulders Gabriella trekked up the stairs, slowly, taking in every minor detail of her new home. At the very top step she was met with a long narrow hall, just like in the picture her mother had shown her. She walked carefully, peering into every room, trying to find the one that suited her best until she came to the penultimate door at the very end of the hallway.

It was the second largest bedroom she had seen in the whole house. The white-washed walls were completely bare, without a speck of dirt on them. Old furniture was stacked in one corner of the room, worn and falling apart. The room had its own en-suite bathroom which Gabriella very much appreciated; but what caught her eye were the glass French doors leading out to what she figured was a balcony. She had always wanted one as a little girl. She had imagined scenarios where she would be leaning against the rail in a silk gown, her dark waves swaying in the wind when her knight would ride up on a bright pink pony and ride away with her in his arms, to the end of the rainbow where they would make friends with the leprechauns and they would give her all their gold. Gabriella nearly burst out into peals of laughter as she recalled her wild fantasies.

_Disney really did know how to corrupt my brain. _She thought, smiling softly.

The balcony was quite spacious with a large looming tree hovering over it, sheathing it thoroughly from the sun's harsh glare. Gabriella leaned against the rail thoughtfully. She had imagined New Mexico to be quite different, just yards and yards of sand and rocks, no trees or plants, just plain and boring. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had a feeling that she would grow to like the small and quiet little town.

And what about Troy?

She wondered with a sigh. Considering their messed up relationship when they were younger, she had no idea how things would be now. Would they be just the same as they were when they were kids, or would they grow accustomed to each other? What bothered her most was how handsome Troy had grown up to be. She still remembered him with the huge gap between his two front teeth, the insanely long brown hair which he had bleached blonde the summer before their second year in elementary school, and his chubbiness. Now all of that was gone, now he was perfect.

This didn't sit well with her at all.

The rhythmic bouncing of a ball against pavement and the distinct barking of a dog brought her out of her thoughts. Leaning slightly over the rail of the balcony to peer into the neighbors' garden.

The first thing she saw was a pair of bronzed shoulders, sweat droplets winking silently at her as they rolled down the persons' bare back. She couldn't help but stare, entranced as the male's defined muscles rippled and clenched whenever he moved. He moved lithely, controlling the orange sphere with little effort as he dodged the paws of the excited dog. The dog's brown coat shimmered beneath the bright sunlight, making its look a brilliant gold. Gabriella was fascinated by the interaction between the two; man and dog. That was until the boy turned around and Gabriella was met with the familiar aquamarine blue orbs.

Troy's eyes fell on hers and he squinted slightly, as though he was trying to conjure up a memory. Suddenly, his eyes widened and Gabriella's heart stopped in her chest. He recognized her she thought bitterly. The he smiled brightly and waved in what seemed like…a friendly manner? She was astounded by this and hesitated a while before returning an almost half wave. Beside Troy, the dog stopped and stared quizzically at Gabriella, its glistening black eyes scrutinizing the startled brunette. Troy cupped his hands over his mouth and called out playfully,

"Hey neighbor!"

Gabriella blushed and waved mutely, startled by his cheery attitude. This was nothing like the Troy she remembered.

"Are you mute or something?"

She shook her head in response without thinking and this only fueled his teasing. He had left the basketball court and was leaning against the fence, with his arms folded, causing his muscles to bulge.

"Come on," he encouraged, beaming brightly, ignoring the sweat droplets rolling down his body. "A pretty girl like you has got to have a pretty voice?"

Gabriella scoffed at this. She stood up straight and folded her arms, her face neutral. "You are so original." Her voice dripped with sarcasm but this didn't alter or discourage Troy. In fact he only smirked.

"Sarcastic, smart and beautiful? A fascinating combination… I'll take it."

Gabriella rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, "good luck with that."

"Blech; luck is for losers." He said confidently, tossing her a sly wink. He set his intense blue pools on her own mocha ones, igniting a burst of pure heat to erupt inside both of them. Some magnetic force drew their eyes together, leaving them unaware of their surroundings and focused solely upon one another.

"Bella!"

The powerful spell broke and Gabriella reluctantly drew her stare away from his to look down at the wooden bar beneath her hands.

"I have to go."

Troy grinned, seemingly unaffected by their unexplainable moment. He raked his fingers through his damp hair and said, "See you around, neighbor." before she stumbled back into the room, obscured from his view. She exhaled a burdened sigh through her lips. She was so damn confused at that moment.

…

He couldn't get her out of his head.

He was convinced that she was some sort of devil or mythological creature, perfectly designed and sculpted to his own satisfaction. She was unique; not from Earth or from anywhere along the milky-way. Nobody, absolutely no-one was comparable. He found himself conjuring unlikely scenarios in his head, like waking up every morning to find her asleep in bed, right next to him with her dark curls splayed across his pillow, her thick, long lashes fanning her soft cheeks and supple lips stretched into a comfortable smile, or feeling her soft lips against his skin whenever he pleased or hearing her say things like "hey babe" or "I love you".

Every time he heard her voice whisper the last sentence in his head, he would curse and slap himself and repeatedly call himself "a gay pussy" for thinking that as well as other, more graphic names.

After she had disappeared into the house he had stood there staring after her, ignoring the soft and heavy paws of the excited animal jumping around him.

"Troy, get your ass inside. Mom's calling."

Pencil straight, dark blonde, blue-eyes, tanned skin and prominent curves; at the tender age of fifteen Hayley Bolton was already the most popular female figure in East Middle School and part of East High School as well. Also being the only sibling of _The _Troy Bolton played a great deal in her popularity status. But of course, unlike how most expected, Hayley treated her brother the farthest from "godly".

"Fuck off Hayley" Troy snapped, annoyed at being so rudely interrupted.

Hayley smirked as she tried to shove away the excited dog, "make me."

"G*d you're so effin' annoying!"

"Love you too bro."

"No fighting please." Lucille interrupted sternly, sliding between the arguing siblings, whilst balancing a large pot, which she place on the stove before properly addressing the two.

"I've invited the Montez's for dinner tonight so please _behave_." She said, looking directly at Troy as she said the last part.

"Mom, it's been like what ten years? We're both grown up." Troy said in a mocking voice as he knelt to ruffle the dog's silky fur. "Plus, I doubt she's a bitch anymore."

"Language Troy!" Lucille snapped sternly.

"Or, she could be an even bigger one."

Lucille intervened before Troy could respond. "Either way just try and play nice. Please?"

Troy scowled and nodded. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice. Once his mother had her mind set on something, there was no way to alter her course. So in a deliberately slow and reluctant manner Troy nodded.

"Besides," Lucille continued cheerily, resuming her cooking once more, "I've met Gabriella and she's so sweet." She turned to look at Troy and he caught a glance at a mischievous gleam dancing around in those blue-green eyes and he felt his heart sink down into his stomach.

_Great! _He thought, annoyed, _she set me up with a bitch._

"And, she's beautiful."

At that, Hayley let out a whoop of exaggerated laughter, startling the resting dog beside her and causing it to slink out of the kitchen. Troy glared at both women, "No thank you, mother." He voiced in what he hoped was a stressed and serious tone.

"Okay fine…just consider it."

Troy scoffed and left the kitchen hastily, trying to block out any added comments from the two women. Where was his father when he needed him?

…

**A/N: I know it's EXTREMELY late and you're all probably annoyed but I'm sooo sorry! And I apologize for the shortness I actually have my exams right now so yeah. And I have been so busy lately! HOMEWORK! I hate school. Then I had to do a speech for graduation, write a report on NHSMUN, practice for a debate, go to billions of confirmations (I have many more to go this weekend…again) and add billions of tests, revision and classes to that. My But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I promise to try and update soon. Also I'm working on next chapters for _A Passionate Affair _and _Welcome to My Life_.**

**Summer's in about three weeks! Unfortunately there's no such thing as summer for my grade though :(**** But I'll try and make frequent updates for all my stories, no promises though.**

**Thank you SOOOOO MUCH for the reviews…WOW. You guys are amazing and make me smile. I hope this chapter made you guys smile. Thanks again! (cyber hugs!) :P**


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